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Old Posted Dec 29, 2010, 12:23 PM
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Construction record about to topple
Published Wednesday December 29th, 2010
City | A number of big projects to wrap up next year and in 2012
A1
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
mclaughlin.heather@dailygleaner.com

When the last day of 2010 rings in, Fredericton will have surpassed its construction record set in 2008.

City development committee chairman Coun. Stephen Chase said the year-end projection for Fredericton is $168 million, about $11 million more than the 2008 record of $157 million.

"This is very good news, but it should be tempered by noting that we don't expect this trend to continue," Chase said.

That's not to say the city won't continue to enjoy steady growth, Chase said, but many of the municipal, institutional and government infrastructure projects that have fuelled construction over the past year are winding down.

The city's Grant*Harvey complex is expected to be finished in March 2012, but the University of New Brunswick's Currie center is almost done.

The New Brunswick Community College on the UNB campus is also under construction.

The city's $78-million downtown convention centre, eastend parking garage and government office building are to open in 2011.

As the federal and provincial governments struggle to wrestle down their deficits, Chase expects that the federal funding tap for public facilities is going to be turned off.

"Some development prospects are on the horizon, such as Costco, but we expect these types of projects to be few compared with recent years.''

Costco has done its site preparation at the Corbett Centre on Regent Street, but the bulk wholesale grocery and household merchandising chain has yet to announce a date to start building its store.

"They're keeping that pretty close," Chase said.

The company has said it plans to be open next summer.

The development committee chairman said he has high hopes for the future of the former railway lands between York and Regent streets in the downtown.

Chase said installation of underground services has been taking place that will make the property ripe for growth.

"There are encouraging signs of development on the railway lands," he said.

"For the future, the prediction is for much more conservative growth in the $100-million range. The bread and butter of residential development will continue to chug along," he said. "Anything that comes along on top of that will be well-received."

Fredericton's 2011 budget is predicting a taming of red-hot construction levels.

The city's 2011 tax base - the value of all taxable property in the city both new buildings and reassessed properties - rose 4.88 per cent.

New buildings made up 2.5 per cent of the growth. The remainder was the increase in properties that had higher assessments.

The province government has said it will cap property assessments at three per cent this year and in 2012.

The city is predicting that tax base growth in 2012 will be at 4.25 per cent with new construction making up 2.25 per cent of that.

In 2013, the city is estimating that there will be two per cent growth in New Brunswick, 1.75 per cent in 2014 and 1.50 per cent in 2015.

Its prediction is that assessment increases will level off at two per cent growth between 2012 and 2015.
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